Introduction
Today picking an OS for an IBM compatible PC is becoming more and more difficulty it the increasing number of choices, whit this in mind I decided to try the most recent OS Win ME, Win2k Pro and Mandrake Linux 8.0 the computer I used was an PII 350Mhz overclocked to 392Mhz, 128 Mb Ram, 6.3 Gb Hard Drive, Riva TnT2 m64, Sound Blaster awe64, internal modem Conexent Soft56k and an HP-9150i CD-RW a modest computer but it is all I got I tried one by one and looked at stability, compatibility and easiness to use.
Windows ME
Win ME is the last Win9x based OS actually it was only made because Microsoft assent able to make win2k compatible enough to release an home version which made people mistake WinME it Win2k, it as the latest GUI improvements making it most pleasant and easy to work wit, and it runs relatively fast on my computer most win9x applications work fine but there’s a catch it doesn’t have a real DOS, so you can only run games and applications on the windows DOS promote and they will work fine unless they need to have direct assess to the hardware (like sound board’s for sound in games) in this case or they will crash or just work but it no sound for instant also if you think this is the most stable win9x ever made then I’m sorry to disappoint you but it doesn’t like some win98 drivers since making windows even more unstable like in my case my modem drivers made windows reboot when I was online or simply crash but if your hardware is recent you should be ok, even it this problems it’s still the best windows for gaming and multimedia.
Windows 2000 Professional
Having a confusing name this OS was original named Windows NT 5.0 so you can see it as nothing to do with the Win9x legacy since it was originally made to replace WinNT and Win98 Microsoft took the best features of booth and made a bran new OS very easy to use and extremely stable but since it as primarily based in WinNT the compatibility is not the beast DOS is only emulated (its true Win2k as no DOS) and the limits of Win ME also apply and even some windows applications don’t work mostly games in the hardware department it’s not the beast but its not the worst ether you will find drivers unless if you have old ore strange board, for those using Win9x this OS will look familiarly at first but as you go deeper you will encounter configuration options that Win9x user can only dream also this is a multi user oriented system so if you have a big family using one PC this feature will come in handy and if you want a network this OS is what you need but don’t think this is a Win9x it requires a good machine to run fast my PC runs at medium speed so you see its heavy.
Mandrake Linux 8.0
My favorite distribution of Linux or Gnu/Linux who cares I must say Linux is becoming easier to use this version is extremely easy to install and use and since that it brings all the applications you need it makes it the only installation you need to do for a while the stability is high as usual and it runs ok in my PC since it doesn’t ask for to much power in the gaming department thing are still green but in office applications there is plenty of good choices like Star Office, WordPerfect and Koffice also now it the new 2.4 kernel usb support is guarantied but still the hardware support is not at 100% so expect some component of your computer not to work if it as less than a year.
Conclusion
As a final word ill like to say their all great OS but for different things so if you are a game fanatic Win ME is the one for you but if you work more than you play but still can’t be it out you windows games than win2k Pro is a great choice Linux is a great alternative for schools, companies and even people at home that just use they pc as a type writer will review this when windows XP comes out till then goodbye.
